Kaake Family Blog

Potted Indoor Basil Potted Lettuce Shallots Garden Magic This is the garden's magic, That through the sunny hours The gardener who tends it, Himself outgrows his flowers. He grows by gift of patience, Since he who sows must know That only in the Lord's good time Does any seedling grow. He learns from buds unfolding, From each tight leaf unfurled, That his own heart, expanding, Is one with all the world. He bares his head to sunshine, His bending back a sign Of grace, and ev'ry shower becomes His sacramental wine. And when at last his labors Bring forth the very stuff And substance of all beauty This is reward enough. ~MARIE NETTLETON CARROLL~

These were a very fun treat! The kids and I think they are much better than store bought. Dh even likes them. I used my homemade starter which you can find information for below. Sourdough English Muffins Makes about 12 1/2 C starter (mine is a 100% hydration white starter) 1 C milk 2-3/4 C AP flour 1 TBSP sugar 3/4 tsp salt 1 tsp baking soda Semolina or cornmeal, for dusting Directions: 1. Combine starter, 2 C of flour and milk in a large bowl. Stir to combine, cover with plastic wrap, and leave out for 8 hours or overnight. 2. After the overnight rest, add remaining flour (I didn't add any), sugar, salt and baking soda and mix well. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 4-5 minutes. 3. Roll out to 3/4" and cut with a biscuit cutter into rounds. You can reroll the scraps, but you may need to let the dough rest before cutting more muffins from them. 4. Place muffins on a piece of parchment dusted with semolina and let rest for 45 minutes. ...

I'm very excited to announce that my cookbook is finally ready for viewing! You can find the link to it at the far right hand side of the screen. I hope it blesses you as much as it has us. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. This is a free download. Please feel free to pass this along as you see fit. I hope to update this every year or 1/2 year with added recipes. Enjoy!

I just saw a new recipe online and thought we'd give it a try. It worked out lovely! I did add too much water this time so next time that's something to note. I also added in cinnamon and just halved the recipes. You can find the information in full here . There are many health benefits to soaking your grains overnight before cooking them. Here's just a few: Digestion becomes easier and you get more nutrients from the grains because of it. The antinutrients in grains are neutralized, which means goodbye to phytic acid content and enzyme inhibitors. You get increased amounts of vitamins, minerals, and beneficial enzymes. The main thing I have noticed is that anything whole grain I soak overnight is less dense and more moist than if I hadn't. In fact, the things I've soaked (whole wheat flour) has come out being very moist and fluffy. A far cry from whole wheat muffins and breads I've not soaked. Soaked Pancakes Ingredients: 1 cu...

I hope your Mother's Day was a wonderful as mine. I felt so much love from my family yesterday. I don't want you to think that I don't every day; however, yesterday they made sure to do all the things that make me feel extra special. Matt stayed up very late the night before to make me some very yummy cheesecake. He was up till almost 3am! When we got up he made me a breakfast of farm fresh sausage and (store bought) eggs. Unfortunately, my egg was spoiled. We didn't know that till I took my 3rd bite and realized it just was not right. I told him people will ask what I got for Mother's Day and I'll say "food poisoning", rofl! In the midst of there somewhere, Jon had given me his gifts. It was 2 cookie sheets! I have needed these for so long! My only cookie sheet had gotten ruined. What a huge blessing! What a perfect gift coming from our little cook. We headed off to church, everyone exhausted, but we made it. :) Good service and ni...

Kefir Making Part 1 Notes of things I forgot to mention: 1. You can also find Kefir grains on etsy.com or other online sites. 2. The longer you let your kefir sit on the counter, the more sour and thick it will get. Notes: 1. Contact me here or mandikaake@gmail.com

We started our Farm Share program today with the Bennett family. It was so exciting visiting the Bennett's at their farm. They are such a joy to be around. They are also a fellow Christian homeschooling family. This makes purchasing from them even better. Some things we picked up today were raw milk, raw milk cheese, sausage, country bacon and honey sticks. We have been purchasing honey from them for several years now and then meat starting a couple years ago. We love to see that they are able to expand not only their options for us but their farm as well. While the drive is 50 minutes one way, we really enjoy taking the time to take a drive out in the country. I for one feel very refreshed when I come back home from visiting the Bennett's. Jon and Allysha had a fabulous time with the sweet, lovely daughter Hosannah. To add to that fun, Jon was able to hold and feed a baby lamb. He loved it! He even cried when we had to leave. If you're interested ...

Yeah! We were able to drink our first batch of kefir from these particular grains. So yummy! Dom is the biggest kefir guru out there. Check the below link to see how to make your own kefir. It is very, very easy! The health benefits are so amazing, why not? http://users.sa.chariot.net.au/~dna/Makekefir.html On to the kefir smoothie. We ended up making a very yummy kefir smoothie today. You can find the recipe below. Before I get to that, here are some health benefits of making your own (and drinking) kefir. "The benefits of consuming kefir regularly in the diet Easily digested, it cleanses the intestines, provides beneficial bacteria and yeast, vitamins and minerals, and complete proteins. Because kefir is such a balanced and nourishing food, it contributes to a healthy immune system and has been used to help patients suffering from AIDS, chronic fatigue syndrome, herpes, and cancer. Its tranquilizing effect on the nervous system has benefited many who suffer from...

My husband is usually the one to make bread. Go figure right? I saw online how to make wild yeast sourdough starter. I thought "hey, I might as well try it." So, here's the pix. Tell me what you think :) The first few days I didn't see anything going on, but here it is on day 4. Here is the dough after only 4 cups of flour put in and rising for a few hours. Here is the kneaded, shaped and scored dough :) Here is a picture of the baked bread with a small piece cut out. This was such a fun experience. I really think the only reason why I was able to successfully make this is because it took the pineapple juice that inhibited bad bacteria growth. Here is the link to the sourdough starter. http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/233 I've been told it will taste more sour as your sourdough ages. Yeah!